Growth zones

The growth zones are not limited by administrative boundaries as they form operational areas. The aim in the development of growth zones is to expand business activities, improve labour mobility and attract international investments. Growth zones extending between urban centres were defined and classified for the first time in the ‘Functional areas and growth zones in Finland’ project. The classification is based on regional interaction, the transport system and accessibility. Interaction is considered particularly in terms of journeys to work, traffic flows and connections between companies. Changes in the zones are looked at in terms of demographics, migration, employment, workplace trends, construction and the business outlooks of companies.

The aim in the development of growth zones is to expand business activities, improve labour mobility and attract international investment. The idea is to develop zones that transcend administrative boundaries while also making good use of existing transport systems.

Strategic development of the zones is aimed at ensuring that there is better consideration of regional development and planning and industrial, employment and transport policies. The aim is also to improve international links and to have closer cooperation across Finnish borders.

In the growth zones competition that took place in conjunction with the ‘Regional Innovations and Experimentations’ key project, the zones selected by the Government for the agreement procedure were the northern growth zone cutting across southern Finland from east to west and the Finnish growth corridor running from Helsinki to Seinäjoki via Tampere. The Government and the zones signed a strategic cooperation agreement for the development of the zones in 2016–2019.